Spiders
by 857478647
Summary: There are many creatures in the forest. Some are nicer than others. Naruto learns one of Sasuke’s darkest secrets. NaruSasu, bit of SasuNaru.


I fail at titles T.T

I realize this is highly unlikely, bordering on a crackfic. But after jumping at the common daddy long leg on my wall my irrational fear turned into irrational inspiration. And so here you have it.

It's NaruSasu! Gasp! I actually prefer SasuNaru, but there was no other way to write this. Read on and you'll see what I mean.

Contains: NaruSasu, a bit of SasuNaru, OOC Sasuke, spider guts, fluff, shounen-ai

- - -

Naruto had always liked the forest. The air was fresh and clear. There was enough shade from the trees to stay cool, and at the same time enough light coming through them to get warm under the sun. The slanting beams were nice to look at, too. Then there were the different shades of brown and grey and green among the wood, the leaves, the grass. The creatures that made the forest their home ensured it was never quiet, the thrum of activity ever present, making the forest sound alive and full. And, of course, you got to see them sometimes as well, birds darting overhead or hopping on branches; earthbound animals scampering across the ground or climbing the trees.

It was a shame that being a shinobi meant spending most of the time in the forest leaping from tree to tree like a monkey targeted as prey. A ninja on a mission had a schedule to keep, and a leisurely stroll through the woods was not the way to keep it.

Then again, on the way home from missions they were allowed to take a bit more time, and this was when Naruto took in the wilderness. They were returning from a neighbouring town after bringing a set of hairpins to the feudal lord's daughter, who had forgotten them in Konoha when they had visited. The little girl had been excited to see ninjas again, and Naruto had taken a liking to her. She'd given each of them one of the hairpins, and while he had no use for it, they were nicely decorated with blue leaf shapes and he figured it'd make a good keepsake.

All four of the shinobi on Team Seven were rather quiet. Naruto fidgeted – he didn't feel right if there was a group around him and no one was talking. He thought. Picking on Sasuke was usually fun. "Hey, teme."

Sasuke made no reply, but Naruto could tell he was listening – or at least that he'd noticed.

"You looked pretty happy when you got that hairpin," Naruto said, grinning mischievously. "Bet you can't wait to try it on."

He saw the other boy roll his eyes. "Did you want it, dobe? You could wear them symmetrically."

Sakura rounded on the blonde. "Naruto! That's a stupid thing to say. Sasuke isn't about to wear the hairpin any more than you are."

Naruto wasn't giving it up, though. He'd started a bit of a conversation and it was definitely an amusing one. "How do you know? Have you ever seen the inside of his house? I bet it's full of clips and bows and pretty dresses and when no one's looking he puts them on and dances in front of the mir—"

Sakura planted her foot firmly on the back of Naruto's head, sending him flying forward into a tree.

"Owww," he moaned, "that hurt, Sakura-chan!"

Pulling his face from the knothole in which he'd gotten stuck, he was about to turn around when a long, skeletal insect leg poked out, quickly followed by a spider larger than his head.

"Gah!" he shouted. "That thing is huge!" Scrambling away, he turned to the others, who had looked up at his yell.

Sakura shrieked and jumped behind their mentor. Kakashi-sensei, who peered over his book at the noise, didn't seem bothered at all. Naruto looked at Sasuke and was shocked to find him staring at the spider with wide eyes, pupils contracted, muscles tensed. Naruto watches as the pale lips formed soundless words.

_S…spi…der…_

"Kill it!" Sakura wailed. Naruto's gaze lingered on Sasuke's frozen face for a moment longer, then he grabbed his kunai and plunged it right into the spider. It crunched, then squirted disgustingly. The kitsune watched the paralyzed boy's onyx eyes follow the glob of spider juice arc neatly and splatter on the forest floor, splashing onto his sandals. He flinched and jumped back. Kakashi and Sakura were still behind him, unable to see his expression.

Sasuke's eyes flicked to Naruto, and it was then that the Uchiha realized what Naruto knew. He locked eyes with the blonde's, and Naruto could clearly see what they said, even with the fear filling them – _don't tell them. _Naruto saw this as a perfect opportunity to get ahead of his rival. But… No, he couldn't. This was serious. Naruto wasn't so much of an idiot as to make fun of something like this. He nodded, moving his head so little that Kakashi and Sakura wouldn't realize it was a purposeful gesture, and saw Sasuke relax and assume his usual cold air again, hiding the fact that he was still shaky. Naruto knew it; he could tell, but the others, who hadn't noticed Sasuke's fear at all, wouldn't be able to.

"K-Kakashi-sensei," said Sakura timidly, "are spiders even _allowed_ to get that big?"

"Hmm, well… you'd never find a spider bigger than a mouse in Konoha, that's for sure. But who knows what they eat in the forest?"

"Come on, Sakura," said Sasuke. Naruto heard the slightest tremor in his voice, so small he only noticed because he was so used to Sasuke's usual confidence. "It's just a spider."

Sakura hesitantly nodded. "You're so brave, Sasuke-kun, not even afraid of such a huge, creepy bug…" she shuddered. "And your sandals are all covered in the thing's insides! How can you _stand_ it?"

Naruto watched his teammate. Sasuke looked like he wouldn't be able to stand it any longer if Sakura kept talking. His already pale skin had lost even more colour, replaced by a slight green tinge.

"Let's just keep going, shall we?" he said quickly.

They went on. Sasuke gave the tree with the fallen spider at its base a wide berth. Naruto could sense his teammate's wariness all the way home, but they encountered no more giant insects. Eventually the giant stone faces of Konoha came into view.

"We're back!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning. "Who wants to go to Ichiraku's?"

"I'll pass," said Sasuke quietly. He looked like he was about to be sick. Naruto watched him go, wondering vaguely if he was going to be okay. This wasn't like Sasuke at all.

"It won't be any fun if Sasuke's not there," said Sakura huffily. "See you around, Naruto."

Naruto stood there in disappointment as she too left.

"Well, I've got to report to Hokage-sama." Turning, Naruto saw a slight puff of smoke where Kakashi had just been. _The bastard, he could have at least said goodbye. Oh, well._ He set off for his favourite place.

Team Seven had completed the last mission that had been given to Konoha in a while. Naruto didn't see Sasuke around. This normally wouldn't have bothered him, but Sasuke's reaction to the spider had surprised him, even confused him a little. Was the Uchiha alright?

A few days after the mission found Naruto racing across rooftops, getting as far away from the book store as possible – the shopkeeper had caught him looking at the adult magazines again. As he jumped off a slanted roof, a frantic yell rose from below him. He landed on the next rooftop, then hopped down to the ground in front of the building from where the shout had emanated. Finding the door, he knocked.

"Everything okay in there?" he called.

There was no answer, but he could sense the fear radiating from whoever was in there. He stood there a moment, then slid the door open and stepped in.

The first thing he saw was Sasuke, sitting, frozen in terror on the floor. The second thing he saw was what Sasuke was staring at – a spider the size of a robin clinging to the wall. Almost without thinking, Naruto whipped out a kunai and flung it. It sunk right into the spider, then both fell to the floor together.

Sasuke seemed to deflate. He sat there, shaking and breathing heavily, cold sweat on his face.

"Sasuke?"

Naruto kneeled down and put a hand on his shoulder. The instant he made contact, the raven abruptly turned and threw his arms around Naruto's torso. He stared in total shock as Sasuke – strong, stoic Sasuke – buried his face in the kitsune's shirt and hung on as if for dear life, trembling uncontrollably.

Startled, he sat there with his best friend, his rival, clinging to him, without a clue as to what to do. In the silence, he thought he heard the tiniest voice, so small he was sure it had been in his head.

_Please…_

"Sasuke…" A little unsure, he tentatively put a hand on the other's back. When this seemed to soothe him a little, Naruto put both arms around him and hugged him gently. He bent his head down and buried his face in the dark hair. It smelled nice – it was a softer, more subtle version of the scent by which he was always surrounded after long sparring with his rival. It was Sasuke's scent.

Naruto began to mutter soft words of comfort. "Shh… It's okay… It'll all be fine…" He didn't really know what to do, but somehow he felt this was right, so he kept it up, shielding Sasuke's body with his own as if to protect him, reassuring him.

_This feels… nice,_ Naruto thought. Never having known his parents, living alone all the time, he'd never experienced just how comforting physical contact was. To know there was someone right there, close to you, was something he'd never felt. Even if it was his rival… his best friend…

But was it that strange? They made contact plenty of times during fights. Although every touch was in offence or defence, although each hit was made for the sake of gaining the advantage, Naruto could not deny the bursts of comfort he got every time he came in contact with someone. And there was a difference between contact with Sasuke and contact with other people – he could tell.

Their relationship was not a normal one. Naruto had always known that. They weren't just teammates. They weren't just rivals. They weren't just best friends. They were all of that and more. They understood each other in a wordless way, and their contrary personalities in addition to their similar pasts of loneliness and their identical desires to be the best made them mesh like nothing else could.

"N…Naruto…" Sasuke muttered into his shirt. But he didn't sound like he had something to say.

Naruto felt a pang when he heard his name. Sasuke's voice, usually unreadable (although not so much for Naruto since he understood Sasuke in that strange way he could never explain), was full of a small but overwhelmingly obvious emotion. Fright, weakness, a desperate need for comfort. All in his name.

If he'd felt so much from hearing his name, maybe it would help Sasuke too. "Sasuke… It's alright, Sasuke. Don't worry."

"Who's… gonna worry, dobe?" Sasuke said softly. Slowly he pulled himself away and sat back a bit, although still very close to Naruto. He sat slouching slightly, looking rather small, as though still afraid. He spoke at his hands held together in his lap. "I'm… well… Thanks."

He smiled. "No problem."

Sasuke glanced over to where the dead spider was still lying on his floor with the kunai in it. "I don't know how it got here. I was just about to head out when I heard a tapping noise behind me, and…" he shuddered.

"Kakashi-sensei said spiders this big don't exist in the village. It must have come from the forest…" A thought struck him. "Sasuke, did you wash your sandals when you got home?"

"No," Sasuke said almost defensively, "I got another pair from the academy. I was going to eventually… What are you getting at?"

"Maybe the stuff from the spider that got on your shoes had eggs in it."

Sasuke looked alarmed at this. "But then – then there might be more of them!"

Naruto nodded thoughtfully. "You're right. So… what should we do?"

"Get rid of them," he said immediately.

"I think we should wash those sandals first," said Naruto. He reached over and picked them up. Now that he looked more closely, he could see that the goo was still there – had it really been transparent when he'd stabbed the spider? "Where's your bathroom, Sasuke?"

"It's… down the hall, third door to the right."

Naruto stood, kicked off his own shoes, and started down the hall. Sasuke watched him for a bit, then felt a strange shiver shoot up his spine. He quickly got up and closed the distance between them. Naruto heard his footsteps on the hardwood floor and stopped, turning. Sasuke, not expecting this, bumped lightly into him.

"Sasuke?"

"Sorry. I just… Never mind. Over here." He made for the doorknob, but so did Naruto. The kitsune's hand brushed past his, and Sasuke jerked back as though burned. Feeling jumpy and confused, holding the hand with his other one, he stood there, unmoving, watching Naruto.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Naruto asked. His hand rested on the doorknob, but he didn't turn it. His eyes reflected concern. "You seem kinda… off."

"I'm fine," he said, a little too quickly. "Go ahead."

Naruto opened the door. The bathroom was simple and spotless. He washed the sandals with water and soap, scrubbing with his fingers, making sure he got everything off. Sasuke seemed to cringe just seeing him touch the stuff.

When he was finished, Naruto put the shoes in the bathtub to dry. He then turned to Sasuke, who was still standing in the doorway.

"You're gonna come with me, right?"

"Come? Where?"

"Well I don't know how to get around your house. We've got to get rid of the spiders, haven't we?"

Sasuke hesitated, then nodded. Naruto took Sasuke's hand and together they searched the house. Whenever there was a spider, the kitsune killed it and put it in a garbage bag before wiping the area off with a wet rag. Sasuke was reluctant to enter some rooms. He never touched most of the house – there were too many painful memories. But Naruto carefully persuaded him in, and stayed close. He never once let go of Sasuke's hand. Sasuke felt an immense sensation of safety and peace. The warmth in his hand gave him strength, and by the time they'd inspected the last room he felt like himself again.

"Naruto."

Naruto turned, hearing the change of tone. "You back to normal?"

"Hn."

He offered a cheeky grin. "Good, because I don't know what I would do if you suddenly turned into Hinata or something."

Sasuke smirked in response. "Only a dobe like you would do that."

"Teme, don't get cocky," said Naruto. "You're lucky I'm not that insensitive, or I'd be telling this to everyone who knows you."

"I guess that's your only way to make up for the rest of your idiocy."

"Well what if _you_'re hiding all your insecurities behind your oh-so-great Uchiha name?"

"Grow up, dobe."

"Make me, teme!" he stuck out his tongue.

Sasuke jerked on the hand onto which he was still holding. Naruto, caught off-guard, tipped forward. As he fell, Sasuke wrapped an arm around to his back and kissed him. Naruto's eyes were still wide when Sasuke pulled his head back; his cheeks were flushed.

"You're supposed to close your eyes, usuratonkachi."

"Sasuke…"

Sasuke took the side of Naruto's head gently in his hand and brushed his thumb over a whiskered cheek. "I love you, Naruto."

- - -

I couldn't stand SasUKE. Not like that. So in the end I got him to take back the lead. Bad transition, I know, but gah. It was hard to write, too. It felt all wrong, and it was hard to imagine, and that just makes it hard to write.

Is it just me, or is the trajectory of this story a lot like my previous one? Not on purpose, I swear… O.o;

Random side note: When I wrote that Sasuke got new sandals, I figure shinobi would get their clothes roughed up pretty often, and they must get standard ninja stuff from somewhere. I dunno, it's a possibility.

Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it. Comments? Criticisms? Praise? Leave a review. :3 I'm not fond of flames, though.


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